6 Months

E is 6 months old (actually, she’s closer to 7 months, but since I’m so busy right now, it’s taken me a loooonnnng time to write this post, and we’re going to pretend she’s only 6 months old).

In the past month, E has learned how to crawl, sit unassisted, pull to a standing position, eat puffs, put her pacifier in her own mouth, and make consonant sounds. Oh, yeah, and she learned how to drive, too.

Just kidding. We only taught her how to park the car.

Anyway, she is doing everything she can to grow up in a hurry. She crawls like a pro, now. All coordinated-like. I wrote in my last post that she started out fairly uncoordinated, but she’s picked it up in a hurry, and she really moves! She’s sitting up all by herself now, too. That just started this week – the day before she pulled herself up at daycare. Oh, yes – she can pull herself into a standing position! I haven’t seen her do it personally, but she does it regularly at daycare. We don’t have anything she can pull herself up with at home, so we’re probably going to have to wait a while to see it ourselves. But, at daycare, they swear she’s a pro at that – right from the start!

Compared to all that, eating fruits and vegetables seems like no big deal, but this time last month, she was only eating rice cereal! Now, she can eat green beans, squash, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peaches, applesauce, and pears. Here are a few pics from one of her first baby food experiences.

Hilarious, right? That FACE! Those were green beans. She LOVES them now. They’re her favorite. In fact, she likes all of the vegetables, and is only now getting used to the fruits. She prefers veggies! Yay! Let’s hope she stays like this, so we don’t have to bribe her with ketchup, ranch dressing or cheese on every healthy thing.

E has also been introduced to the world of feeding yourself. My sister, the experienced parent of two, asked me if E was eating puffs yet. I told her that the books say she’s not old enough. Experienced Mom laughed, and quickly bought E her first container of puffs. I timidly gave her one, and she made a face much like the one above, as if to say “um, I don’t know what this is, and I don’t think I’m going to like it.” And then she mushed it around a bit in her mouth, and when it was gone, she opened up for another! And get this – she made the EXACT SAME FACE the next time, and the next time, and the time after that, and again and again… But she kept “asking” for more.

She feeds herself puffs now, and she no longer makes the face, which is too bad, because it made me laugh each and every time. I think that the puffs have helped her fine motor skills, too, because she’s also able to maneuver her pacifier back into her mouth with ease. She’s been able to get it back near her mouth for over a month, but now she can actually twist it around so that it goes in the right way.

The most recent development is the addition of consonants to her sounds. She now squeals, growls, grunts, howls, and makes “B” sounds. It won’t be long before she is verbalizing her desires using real words, instead of just using The Force to make us do her bidding.